Is it time to shake the dust from our feet?

“And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.” Luke 9:5

Seldom, if ever, will you hear such a question broached from the pulpit, but is there ever a time to move on in our efforts to reach the lost for Christ? That’s a difficult question which Jesus addressed when He sent out His apostles.

When Jesus sent out the twelve to preach the Gospel of the kingdom, He also told them that they should shake off the dust from their feet as a testimony against any city which would not receive them or hear their words.

Jesus did the same when He later sent out the seventy (Luke 10:1-16). He also told them: “He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you despiseth Me; and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me” (v. 16).

The Apostle Paul did this when he and his message were opposed (Acts 13:51; cf. 18:6). Why did they shake off the dust from their feet? It was a testimony of God’s coming judgment upon that place for the people’s rejection of Christ and His life-giving Word.

As Jesus said, “It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city” (Matt. 10:15).

Again, why? Because only in Christ Jesus and His shed blood is there forgiveness of sins and life eternal - if Christ and His Word are rejected, there can be no salvation (Acts 4:12). Only the severe judgment of God awaits them!

Why else were they to shake off the dust and move on? Jesus said, “But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come” (Matt. 10:23). We also will not run out of places and opportunities to share the good news of forgiveness and life in Christ Jesus before He comes again.

This command of the Lord Jesus to His apostles raises some very difficult questions for us, at times, to prayerfully consider: 1. Have we preached Christ’s Word here in this place? Have we reached out with that Word? 2. Have we been received? And, has the testimony of God’s Word been accepted? Does it appear that any are interested in hearing God’s Word from us in this place? 3. Are there other places to go and preach the Gospel? Or, are there other ways in which we can actively be spreading God’s life-giving Word and contributing to the growth of Christ’s Church? 4. And finally, based upon honest answers to the above questions, is it time to shake off the dust from our feet and move on in our service to Christ?